We opted for one of the recommended shore excursions to Berlin. It was expensive but we decided to go for it anyways. In retrospect if we had to do it again we would choose to explore closer to port. Let me explain why. Berlin is 3 ½ hours away from the port and this has to be done both ways so we wasted more than 7 hours in port on transportation by train. The train ride was ok but getting off the ship to be ushered on a long train ride followed by a bus city tour only to embark once again on a 3 ½ hour train ride isn’t our idea of fun!
That said, Berlin is an interesting city and having only a few hours to visit really doesn’t give it justice. During our tour we stopped at various landmarks: Checkpoint Charlie, Berlin Wall remnants, Reichstag, Holocaust Memorial, Bellevue Palace and Brandenburg Gate. It wasn’t possible to visit anything in-depth but it was still nice to see even if it was raining the day we were there.
European Ports of Call – Baltic Cruise